It's fair to say that Jews dominated basketball and that started in the 30s in all the big cities. I think it was simply because Jews lived in ghettoes and basketball is a great schoolyard game. You don't need a lot of space or equipment and you can adapt it to how many players you have.

As for the work ethic, I'm just the kind of guy who takes what he does seriously. I never missed a day of school, I've rarely missed work and I played all those straight games; my streak only ended when I broke my cheekbone.

To get paid to play a game I love was enough for me, no matter what the rules were.

The great thing about basketball is it's a live ball. If someone's in your way, push them out of the way, go around them or over them, whatever it takes.

The real secret to my success was I could shoot with either hand. Ironically, I became ambidextrous as a direct result of breaking my right hand.

I was a center in college but I was a high post guy, feeding cutters and rebounding. Going to pro ball, I clearly wasn't big and strong enough to play center against giants like Mikan so I kept evolving.

A basketball diameter is 10 inches and a rim is 18 inches so I made a 14-inch rim I put in to practice on. Few people could do that because it was so frustrating that it drove everyone but me nuts. That led to me shooting very high, which basic physics tells you is the best angle - the hole is bigger from above than from the side.